TIMBER! brooklyn designers show what they're doing with wood at wanteddesign

whether steam bent, sculpted, carved, or cut, wood is the word at wanteddesign brooklyn’s highlight exhibition, ‘TIMBER!’. designers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, and woodturners are thrust into the spotlight in a showcase of experimental and exploratory collectible art and design pieces all made in industry city. IC — a network of 16 former factory buildings on the waterfront of sunset park, brooklyn — is home to a thriving community of creatives and makers who have honed their craft for decades. these works in wood for TIMBER! celebrate the fabricators and manufactures that carry on the torch of the complex’s rich industrial past.

designers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, and woodturners are thrust into the spotlight at TIMBER!

curated by hannah martin, TIMBER! at wanteddesign brooklyn presents an ecosystem of works in wood, with pieces ranging from super-scaled sculptural benches, to small stools seemingly sourced from the forest floor. there’s matthias plessnig, who uses white-hot steam to mold long strips of wood into wild organic forms; egg collctive, a trio of designers who bring their background in art, architecture and woodworking to a line of elegant furnishings; and stephen talasnik, whose architecturally-inspired works turn birchwood into otherworldly sculptures.

several of the artists and designers featured in the exhibition explore the idea of wood more abstractly and playfully — like sebastian errazuriz’s walnut-crushing stool made from lacquered wood, and chen chen & kai williams’ angular prototype for an emerald ash slotted chair.

the exhibition presents an ecosystem of works in wood, all made at industry city

the exhibition joins a host of programming, exhibitions, workshops and more taking place as part of the IC festival by wanteddesign from now through may 20 at industry city during NYCxDESIGN. wanteddesign founders, odile hainaut and claire pijoulat, have chosen a pertinent theme for the program’s ninth edition: conscious design. discover more must-sees from wanteddesign’s brooklyn and manhattan venues in designboom’s preview feature of the festival, here.

pieces range from super-scaled sculptural benches, to small stools seemingly sourced from the forest floor

TIMBER! celebrates the designers, fabricators and manufactures based at IC

designers featured in the exhibition have each interpreted the idea of wood in their own distinctive voice

matthias pliessnig specializes in functional sculptures made from steam bent wood. pliessnig uses the technique — where long strips of wood are heated with steam until pliable then molded into the desired shape — to create his signature undulating benches

detail of matthias pliessnig’s steam bent white oak bench, ‘PVD’

chilean artist, designer, and activist sebastian errazuriz presents ‘crush stool’, which simultaneously functions as a walnut cracker as the stool is spun and lowered closer to the ground — watch it in action in the video above

chen chen & kai williams‘ prototype for an ’emerald ash slotted chair’ embodies the studio’s ongoing innovation of new techniques and materials
image © designboom

stephen talasnik’s art resides in an area between drawing and fictional engineering, having studied hand built construction methods with indigenous materials from farmers, fishermen, boatbuilders, and craftsmen throughout thailand. ‘seed’, pictured here, is made from birch and a synthetic membrane

andrew hunt is the founder of ATH studios inc, a multi disciplinary studio involved in art fabrication, metal, woodwork, prototyping, and editions for artist, designers, and architects. ‘the miner’s chair’ is rendered in both cast resin and salvaged wood
image © designboom

detail of ‘the miner’s chair’ made from salvaged wood
image © designboom

‘maine in vain’ chair by billy ray morgan continues the designer’s abstract articulation of ideas about the symbolic social signaling of design objects, and the way art and design function in our lives
image © designboom

ian love specializes in one-of-a-kind, custom furniture and art — like the ‘young walnut hand-carved stool’ pictured here — all of which is handmade to order in brooklyn
image © designboom

ishka designs, led by anishka clarke and niya bascom, is a design firm developing interiors and exteriors for residential and hospitality properties. for ‘the family bench’, they collaborated with bellboy founder mat driscoll to create a sinuous piece made from hand-finished oak, terrazzo, cotton, silk, and steel

for the ‘branching bubble floor light’, lindsey adelman combines organic handwrought materials like blown glass with the strong industrial beauty of machine-milled components

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